The Best Man
by luvscharlie
Summary: Tonks had always loved Charlie Weasley. She saw him for the first time as Remus Lupin's wife right before Bill's wedding. Have her feelings for him changed?


_The Best Man_

"Bloody hell, whose idea was this damned thing?"

As she walked to the door of his childhood bedroom to see what the commotion was about, she drew in her breath. _Merlin, he's still beautiful._ His hair was cut shorter than when she saw him last, worn in short spikes, so as to avoid it catching on fire during his daily activities.

Charlie Weasley had once been her world. Today, she was someone else's wife.

"Bugger it all," he ranted.

"You'd better not let your mother hear you talking like that, Charlie."

He froze, and she cursed herself for saying anything. She should have walked on, ignored his voice and gone back outside to her husband.

"Nymph?"

"Hi, Charlie. Do you need some help?" _Gods, I am such a masochist. Why did I offer to help?_

He turned and smiled at her. His was a smile that had once brought every inch of her resolve crashing down around her. Today was no different. He still had the power to make her stomach tie itself in knots and her heart beat furiously in her chest.

"Could you?"

_Say no. Turn around and forget Charlie Weasley exists. You're married now. He made his choice, and so did you. He chose that bloody Dragon Reserve, and you chose Remus._ "What do you need?" _Idiot! My mother is right. I am my own worst enemy._

He pointed towards the collar of his dress robe. "I can't get the bloody thing to hook. And I really don't fancy listening to my brother complain about choosing me for his best man. He had five other brothers to choose from and I can't even properly dress myself. Would you please, Nymph?" he asked, as he motioned towards the hook once more.

_Merlin, now you're going to have to touch him and be close enough to smell him._ "You know Bill would never have chosen anyone but you as his best man. If you hadn't been able to come home, he would have waited to get married."

She approached him, and leaned forward to reach for the tiny hook at his collar, tripped over her own feet, and was forced to wrap her arms around his neck in order to keep from falling. He grabbed her elbows and pulled her close to steady her balance. It appeared natural, instinctive, after so many times of catching her in the past.

"Apparently, he's the only one who waited."

"Charlie, I should have—"

"Told me you got married? Yeah, Nymph, you should have told me."

The tears came unbidden to roll down her cheeks at the hurt tone of his voice. "Charlie, did you think I would wait for you forever?"

"Don't, Nymph," he said, catching the tears with the pad of his thumb. "It's—I guess it wasn't ever going to work for us, huh? I didn't mean to make you cry, but I seem to have a knack for doing so, don't I? The one person in the world I love more than anything, and whenever you're around me, I always make you cry."

"Damn you, Charlie Weasley," she landed a hard slap across his face as the tears continued to trickle down her cheeks. She had waited half her life to hear him say that he loved her, and only after she was another man's wife had he said the words. "Don't you _dare _say you love me. Not now. Not after I've waited for you to say those words for so long."

He rubbed the reddening spot on his right cheek. "Didn't seem to matter how much I loved you or you loved me. Just wasn't meant to be, I guess."

"It's not all my fault, Charlie."

"I never said it was." His arm encircled her waist pulling her flush against him, "I know my part in this. I know where I messed up."

He pulled a handkerchief from the pocket of his robes and wiped away her trails of tears, then closed his lips over hers. The kiss stole her breath and left her knees weak and quaking. She offered little resistance when he pushed her down on his boyhood bed and began to unfasten her robes.

"Fuck, I've missed you, Nymph."

She kissed a trail down his neck inhaling the masculine, intoxicating scent of him. The warmth of his neck was familiar and when she sucked on the lobe of his ear it elicited the groans from deep within his throat that she knew so well.

His hand was inching its way up her thigh as his lips closed over her nipple. Her back arched into the warmth of his mouth, and his name tore from her throat.

It took them several seconds before they realized they were no longer alone in the room. Charlie noticed him first, but when he stopped kissing her, Tonks followed the direction of his gaze. Remus stood in the doorway. He never spoke, only turned and walked away.

Tonks covered her face with her hands, "Oh bloody hell, what have I done?"

Fin


End file.
